Web as a customer communication channel in the confectionery ...

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Web as a customer communication channel in the confectionery industry in South Eastern European countries

Web as a communication channel 17

Blazenka Knezevic, Sanda Renko and Mirjana Pejic Bach Department of Trade, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Abstract Purpose – The main purpose of the paper is to investigate and to document the current level of web usage within the confectionery industry in the South Eastern European (SEE) region. Also, the paper aims to examine the web content structure of confectioners in the given region and to explain the impact of the location and the size of the company on the quality of contents published on web sites. Design/methodology/approach – The experimental research was conducted on the sample of 333 companies in the confectionery industry from 5 SEE countries. The research questionnaire included 56 web sites’ characteristics divided into five categories. Findings – The confectionery industry uses web sites as “presentation space” only, and the “show-case” is the main purpose. The implementation of the web in the confectionery industry in SEE countries is correlated with a company’s characteristics. Companies within EU member countries more often implement the web as a customer communication channel. However, confectioners in non-EU countries have more information published on their web sites and their web sites are more interactive. Originality/value – The paper contributes to a better understanding of web usage within the confectionery industry because it classifies information published on web sites into several categories and describes common web contents in the confectionery industry. Moreover, it discusses the correlation between a company’s characteristics (size and location) and web implementation. Finally, it gives an overview of relevant findings of web usage as a customer communication channel within transitional economies. Keywords Confectionery, Electronic commerce, Worldwide web, Customer relations Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction Confectionery industry is an important part of food industry in South-Eastern Europe. In past 50 years several large companies have developed and proliferated as important players in the region. Nowadays the SEE region is facing new business challenges as many countries are already EU members and several will become soon. On the other hand, web is starting to act as a powerful communication channel in every industry. Therefore, there is obvious trend of rapid growth of internet users in the SEE region. A growing number of studies have examined different aspects of web sites usage as communications channels that could have impact on different industries (Huang et al., 2006; Sung-Eon et al., 2003). Number of papers focus on the main opportunities for enhancing communications with customers (Bauer and Scharl, 2000; Cox and Dale, 2002). However, there are also some risk factors that underline inefficient usages of web as a communication channel (Taylor and England, 2006), especially if main quality standards are not followed (Welling and White, 2006).

British Food Journal Vol. 113 No. 1, 2011 pp. 17-36 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0007-070X DOI 10.1108/00070701111097312

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The majority of such studies are focused on developed economies. There is a lack of studies concerning present state of web site usage in food industry in SEE region. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to describe the current stage of web development in order to detect the quality of Web contents. This paper deals with some important aspects of the trends in web site usage as a communication channel with customers in the confectionery industry in selected countries in South Eastern Europe (SEE). The area of research comprises confectionery companies from five countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Serbia and Slovenia) from SEE region. Three of these countries are from EU (Bulgaria, Slovenia and Greece), one is an EU-candidate country (Croatia) and one has not gained the EU-candidate status yet (Serbia). The main goals of the paper are: . to detect the level of web site usage among confectionery firms in selected SEE countries; . to examine the possible connection between company’s characteristics and web implementation among SEE confectionery firms; . to determine whether there are some differences in EU and Non-EU countries web sites usage; and . to forecast future web site usage scenarios for the confectionery’s firms in SEE countries. 2. Confectionery industry in SEE countries: global context and consumption trends Confectionery industry is a manufacturing sector made up of companies primarily involved in processing sugar confectionery, chocolate and biscuits/wafers. Both production and consumption of the confectionery products in the global market increased in the period 1999 to 2007. However, after 2005 chocolate production and consumption increased, while both production and consumption of sugar and biscuits/wafer showed moderate decrease. The production and consumption of sugar and chocolate in quantity terms, account for more than one third of the confectionery production and consumption as whole. In terms of volume, the growth was 2.8 per cent in average per year to reach a volume of 13.7 million of metric tons, while the forecast is that the volume in 2013 will be 14.3 billion kilograms (Datamonitor, 2009a). In terms of value, global confectionery market is rising very fast, and it grew by 3 per cent in period 1999 to 2007 to reach a value of $127.9 billion. In 2013, the global confectionery market is forecasted to have a value of $147.7 billion, with an estimated increase of 15.5 per cent since 2008. Among the products, chocolate contributes the most with 48.6 per cent to market value, and among regions Europe with 48.8 per cent (Datamonitor, 2009b). Figure 1 shows trends in global production of confectionery products in period 1999-2007 according to basic product groups. Figure 2 shows global trend of consumption of confectionery products in same period. Federation of confectionery trade associations of the countries of the European Union (CAOBISCO – Association of the Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries of the EU) divides global confectionery market into two groups:


Figure 1. Production of confectionery products in the global market (in ’000 metric tons)

Figure 2. Consumption of confectionery products in the global market (in ’000 metric tons)

(1) mature markets of Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan; and (2) developing markets of Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, India, Africa and Middle East. According to data of CAOBISCO (2003-2009), production of the sugar, chocolate and biscuits/wafer shows the increase in all of the product groups, although the increase in USA, Brazil, Australia and Japan was larger in sugar productions, while EU þ EFTA group of countries had larger increase in chocolate and biscuits/wafer production However, USA, Brazil, Australia and Japan produced more sugar, while EU þ EFTA group of countries produced more chocolate and biscuits/wafer products (in metric tons). The confectionery market in regions such as Western Europe and USA þ

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Canada remains rather mature, which is indicated by the rather static consumption and production levels. At the same time, developing countries (e.g. Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and China) are exhibiting higher growth. Therefore, emerging markets of Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific will generate most of the growth in industry (Datamonitor, 2009a). According to Euromonitor, such trends follow the situation of 12 per cent market growth rates in period 2003 to 2008 in chocolate products, and 9 per cent in total confectionery products (Cadbury, 2009). SEE countries encompass Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. Data on confectionery consumption of some of the countries from SEE region (Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Greece) was collected from the various data sources (Datamonitor, 2007; Statistical Office of Republic of Macedonia; and KONDIN, 2009). Table I suggests that in the period 2004-2007 confectionery consumption of those countries accounted 1 per cent of the total global confectionery consumption on an average, with the exception of Romania that accounted 2 per cent. In addition, Table II suggests that in 2006 those countries had similar confectionery consumption expressed in terms of kilos per capita, with the exception of two countries that had lower than 10 kilos per capita confectionery consumption (Macedonia and Greece). In order to compare situation in countries that are similar according to the extent by which they contribute to global consumption, we focused on five SEE countries that had ratio from 0.3 per cent to 0.8 per cent of global consumption in 2006 (Slovenia – 0.3 per cent, Bulgaria and Croatia – 0.6 per cent, Greece – 0.7 per cent, and Serbia – 0.8 per cent). Although there are some differences in habits of population of selected SEE countries regarding per capita confectionery products consumption, those differences are weak taking into account the range of confectionery products consumption in the global market (e.g. per capita consumption of confectionery products in kilos was 17.02 in EU). 3. Using web as communication channel: theoretical framework and objectives of the research Past decade was the decade of dotcom boom and burst. Many authors argued on efficiency of web usage for business purposes (Ahlert et al., 2000; Frost and Strauss, 1998). Numerous advantages of web as distribution channel were stressed out. But, practice showed that web was not so powerful channel as it was claimed to be. After the explosion of dotcoms, the process of sobering-up followed and a large number of pure e-companies were shut-down. On the other hand, in the same period of time traditional companies in different industries discovered that web could be used as an additional communication and distribution channel. The role and impact of web is defined by positioning of web within overall business strategy of a company. Ahlert et al. (2000) argue that there are five strategic positions of web within business strategy, those are: (1) web presence; (2) picture intensive web site;

0.5 0.1 2.1 0.8

73

20 283 113

76 77 18 296 112 26

’000 metric tons 0.5 0.6 0.1 2.1 0.8 0.2

Ratio to global consumption (%)

2005

2006

79 81 19 310 112 27 92

0.6 0.6 0.1 2.2 0.8 0.2 0.7

’000 metric Ratio to global tons consumption (%)

Source: Datamonitor, 2007; Statistical Office of Republic of Macedonia, KONDIN, 2009

Bulgaria Croatia Macedonia Romania Serbia Slovenia Greece


’000 metric tons

2004

115 43 91

84 19

’000 metric tons

0.8 0.3 0.7

0.6 0.1


2007


Table I. Confectionery consumption of selected SEE countries

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(3) marketing web site; (4) shopping web site; and (5) virtual shopping world. In the first strategic position, web is used passively and web site includes basic information on company and eventually, the picture of a company. In second and third strategic position, web site is being actively used as a communication and marketing channel of a company. There are various accurate contents on the web site and besides information on the company it includes fresh information on products and services. In those strategic positions, web also can be used for market research purposes. In fourth and fifth strategic position, commercial activities are conducted via web, i.e. web site is used as the commercial channel of the company. In fourth strategic position, e-shop is developed and it includes narrow and shallow assortment, but at fifth position virtual shopping area includes all product and services offered by a company. In fifth strategic position, web site is personalized and suited to individual customer. According to Srica et al. (2003), there are two basic reasons of web development: (1) the presentation of company, products and services to customers and wide audience; and (2) the revenue generation or sales. Therefore, we distinguish: . presentation web sites; and . commercial web sites. Presentation web sites are used to inform different types of audiences on company and its product and services. On those sites, information is usually divided into information on company, description on business activity and textual or multimedia information on products offered. Presentation web sites have indirect impact on revenue generation because they increase customer’s awareness on company and products. On the other hand, commercial web sites are those at which products are offered to the customer with full information on price, terms and conditions of transaction. On those sites,

Table II. Consumption of confectionery products in 2006 of selected SEE countries (in kilos per capita)

Bulgaria Croatia Macedonia Romania Serbia Slovenia Greece Total EU

Number of inhabitants

Consumption in kilos per capita

7,385,367 4,494,749 2,050,554 22,303,552 9,396,411 2,010,347 10,688,058 499,673,300

10.7 18.0 9.0 13.9 11.9 13.7 8.6 17.02

Sources: indexmundi.com, n.d.; Datamonitor, 2007; State Statistical Office of Republic of Macedonia, 2008; KONDIN, 2009

companies are collecting orders for product and services, and customers pay for ordered products and services. Company’s industry should have strong impact to the characteristics of the companies’ web sites (Sung-Eon et al., 2003). Banking web site will have different content compared to the hotel web site. In the same time, characteristics of the company should also have impact to the content of the web site (e.g. size of the company, country of origin, exporting activity). Our hypothesis concerning characteristics of the web sites in the confectionery industry is: H1. In confectionery industry, there is a strong correlation between company’s characteristics and web implementation. Digital divide also had strong impact to the competitiveness of the firms (Servon, 2002). Firms in developed countries use advanced technology more often compared to the firms in less developed countries. In this paper, the analysis focused on SEE countries, and some of markets were recovering from war and transitioning to a market economy (Croatia, Serbia). Therefore, our hypothesis concerning usage of web sites within confectionery firms in selected SEE countries is: H2. Companies in confectionery industry in EU member countries use web more actively as strategic communication channel than in companies in non-EU countries. Management in the developing countries has more problems when implementing web sites compared to the management in the developed countries (Molla and Licker, 2005). Also, internet adoption and usage in corporations in developing countries was slower compared to developed countries (Daly and Miller, 1998). Moreover, developing countries still did not catch on the developed ones in the Internet usage (Clarke and Wallsten, 2004). If one presumes that EU countries are more developed, one could also expect that web sites of the companies from EU countries would have more content compared to companies from non-EU countries. Therefore, our third hypothesis is: H3. Companies in confectionery industry in EU member countries use more web contents than companies in non-EU countries, i.e. in EU member countries web sites are richer and more interactive. 4. Methodology In order to achieve the previous research aims, and to test above stated hypothesis a three step analysis has been conducted. First, sample of companies operating in confectionery industry was selected. List of companies that deal with confectionery industry was selected from the Kompass.com that is a business to business import and export directory with more than 2.3 million companies in 70 countries. Database can be searched by using 57,000 product and service keywords, 860,000 trade names and 4.6 million executive names. Companies belong to one of the 15 industry groups: Agriculture and Food, Extraction industries, Manufacturing, Wholesale and distribution, etc. Companies that operate in confectionery industry were allocated to the Manufacturing industry, under the Prepared foodstuffs and beverages group, with subgroups Production of sugar, Production of sugar confectionery, and Production of cocoa and chocolate products.


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One integral list for each country was selected and duplicate names of the companies that were allocated to more than one group were deleted from the list. Such list was prepared for each country in the sample: Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Serbia and Slovenia. For each company number of employees was also recorded into the list. Second, we identified whether selected companies have web sites. For each company, web search was conducted by: . typing the address into web browser in the form: www.company_name.com and www.company_name.country_code; and . Google and yahoo search by using company_name as a search word. Additionally, the search within several local business databases was performed in order to obtain information on companies in the region. Thirdly, each web site is fully analysed according to prepared questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed on the basis of previously conducted similar research studies. For instance, Knezevic et al. (2007) and Lim et al. (2009) did content oriented web site research in retail industry, Begalli et al. (2009) in wine industry, Lodhia (2006) in mining industry. In mentioned studies some classes of web contents were similar (such as: basic company information and basic product information), but some of them were industry-specific (for instance: in retail – price ranges and assortment depth; in wine industry – agro tourism information; in mining industry – information on environmental effect). Moreover, Bosilj-Vuksic and Pejic-Bach (1998) conducted content oriented research of largest Croatian companies that showed statistically significant difference in web contents among different industries. Similarly, Perry and Bodkin (2000), on the basis of web site content analysis 100 companies, stated that content structure and scope differentiate between industries. Therefore, questions and variable classes in our research were based on previously mentioned research studies, but also adjusted to the specificities of the confectionery industry. Questionnaire consisted of 56 questions on web sites’ characteristics. Questions were divided into five categories: (1) basic characteristics of the web site; (2) information on company; (3) information on products; (4) information for wholesalers; and (5) interactivity elements. Finally, research findings are summarized according to classes of web sites’ examined. In addition, web sites’ characteristics were analysed according to companies’ characteristics (number of employees, country of origin, EU members/candidate countries). In order to prove research hypotheses, several Chi-square tests were performed. First, correlation between the company’s characteristics and web site presence was investigated. Second, the dependence of web presence between EU-countries and non-EU countries in SEE region was tested. And finally, comparison of web content between confectioners within EU and outside EU was performed.

5. Results Sample characteristics The research was conducted in August 2009 on the sample of companies operating in confectionery industry in selected SEE countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Slovenia and Serbia). Total number of 333 companies was selected for analysis. The distribution of companies according to countries of origin is given in Table III, while Table IV shows the distribution of companies according to the size of the company. Majority (95 per cent) of companies are presented in at least one regional online business database where they placed basic contact information on a company. On the other hand, for 141 companies, web sites were found. That presents 42.3 per cent of total companies in the sample.


Basic characteristics of web sites in confectionery industry in SEE Analysis included several basic characteristics of web sites: . languages used; . media used; and . news and accuracy of the web. As mentioned earlier, all URL addresses of analysed companies are formed as follows: www.company-name.domain; www.companyname.domain or www.company_name. domain (where domain is.com or.country_code). Web sites are built in local languages in 76 per cent of cases. English language is used as a second language on 59 per cent of analysed sites, while only 9 per cent of sites are developed in some other language. Companies that use English as secondary language usually create mirror sites and translate all web contents into English. Only 9 per cent of companies have less content translated into English comparing to content published in local language.

Country

Number of companies

%

Bulgaria Greece Croatia Slovenia Serbia Total

36 139 86 33 39 333

10.8 41.7 25.8 9.9 11.7 100.0

Size Micro Small Medium Large

Number of employees

Number of companies

%

0-10 11-50 51-250 251Total

92 145 62 34 333

27.6 43.5 18.6 10.2 100

Table III. Number of companies according to the country of origin

Table IV. Number of companies according to company’s size

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Companies use media contents in order to present themselves to the wide audience in more interesting manner. More than three quarters of companies publish pictures of their products (see Table V), while picture of headquarter and/or factory building is found on 54 per cent of web sites. Only 30 per cent of web sites place the picture or animation of the mascot of their branded products. Also, only 12 per cent of companies use background music in order to improve the atmosphere of a web visit. Accuracy and freshness of a web site is extremely important when the company decides to use it as the strategic communication channel (Lim et al. (2009), Perry and Bodkin (2000), Begalli et al. (2009) etc). Level of the accuracy can be judged upon the dynamics of content publication. Usually, companies on their homepages publish news regarding their business activities, product assortment, gained awards, presentation on various events and business fairs etc. News on company and/or products are published at only 48 per cent of web sites what is surprisingly small number that indicates the fact that web is not adequately used as an active part of communication strategy in majority of companies in the sample. Information on company Esrock and Leichty (2000) pointed out that organization of corporate web sites has to be oriented towards different publics and that functionality of web sites have to be customised in order to efficiently serve different public groups. Habitually, companies publish basic information of themselves in order to present to the various audiences (owners, customers, investors and so on). Therefore, companies publish various kinds of information such as: mission, history, current activities, size, location, contact information and so on. For the purpose of this research four classes of information on company were analysed (see Figure 3). Those classes comprised 22 variables.

Table V. Graphic and music contents

Figure 3. Classes of information on company

Picture of headquarter or factory Picture of products Picture or animation of mascot Background music

Number of companies

% of total

76 96 42 17

54 77 30 12

At web sites in confectionery industry in SEE region, commonly published basic company information consists of: history (65 per cent sites) and mission of the company (57 per cent sites), while information on current managerial board, number of employees and organizational structure are not widely published information (see light grey part at Figure 4). Analysed companies usually put contact information onto their web sites. Therefore, phone and fax number together with a postal address and e-mail address of a company are found at more than 75 per cent of web sites. But, more complex contact information such as location on a map, department contact information or online contact forms are not commonly used (at Figure 4 see dark grey part). Sampled companies did not recognized owners and investors as a target audience when communicating via web. Namely, less than 20 per cent of them publish their financial statements (balance sheets, income statements and cash-flow reports) and other financial data on their sites. Moreover, stock exchange information is found at only 3 per cent of analysed web sites. That fact is the outcome of undeveloped stock market at the region. Nonetheless, it is necessary to stress out that almost 30 per cent of sampled companies are medium or large companies (see Table IV). The process of privatisation in selected countries was done in nineties (excluding Serbia). Therefore, presumed number of companies (at the beginning of the research) that publish financial information and stock exchange data should be much higher than it is in reality. Other information on company published at web sites includes: . quality certificates (48 per cent); . export orientation of a company (46 per cent);


Figure 4. Published information on company

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description of distribution network (30 per cent); branding information (30 per cent); award won (25 per cent); social responsibility of a company (18 per cent); and current job offers (12 per cent).

Information on products Besides basic information on product assortment, which is often included at basic information on company, companies use web for presentation of their products. Information on products can be classified as: . presentation information; and . commercial information. Presentation information are published in order to inform customers on product and in order to build customer attitude towards presented product. For this purpose, web site usually consists of: product description, picture of a product, and recently (especially in food industry) expiration period and nutritive-energetic facts. In order to make product information user friendly, products are usually classified: . according to product categories; and . according to targeted customer groups (for instance: housewives, children, sportsmen, diabetics, etc). On the other hand, commercial information is used to make final decision on product purchase. The most important commercial information is product price. Besides the price, companies publish type of package and other terms of trade. Analysed web sites are mainly used for presentation purposes. As Figure 5 shows, more than 65 per cent of companies publish product description and picture. But, information on expiration dates and nutritive fact are found at small number of sites (about 10 per cent, see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Published information on products

Confectioners at SEE countries have not recognized web as a direct commercial channel, yet. While packaging information is usually given at product description pages (52 per cent), price of the product is found at only 5 per cent of analysed web sites. It is necessary to mention that sites that publish product prices usually do so at e-shops developed by analysed companies. Product information is usually classified by product categories (57 per cent), while only 8 per cent of analysed companies have applied classification according targeted customers groups. Information for wholesalers Manufacturers often do not sell their products directly to customers. Usually they are using set of intermediaries to make their products available for the use or consumption (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Those intermediaries constitute a distribution channels (also called marketing channels). Various wholesalers, retailers, transportation companies, etc. are the members of those channels. According to Coughlan et al. (2001) intermediaries smooth the flow of goods and services because there is the discrepancy between the assortment of goods and services generated by the producer and the assortment demanded by the consumer. Moreover, the use of intermediaries provides several advantages to producers as the large number of producers lack the financial resources to carry out direct marketing and intermediaries have many contacts and experience to offer the producer more than it can achieve on its own. Javalgi and Ramsey (2001) suggest that e-commerce development, among all implications, directly influence the length and efficiency of distribution channels of companies. Because of that, it is necessary to investigate how companies in sample use web in order to communicate with their direct business partners (intermediates) and what specific information do confectioners publish for the purpose of partner relationship development. The analysis shows that 17 per cent of companies publish product quantities in commercial packages, 21 per cent publish online product catalogue, 8 per cent enable download of product catalogue, while 15 per cent have a part of the site especially created for wholesalers and distributors. On the basis of published information for wholesalers, it can be concluded that a large number of confectioners at the region have not recognized wholesalers as potential web users, so the opportunity for product presentation towards business partners is not seized well. Interactivity elements There are numerous ways to improve interactivity with web visitors. Some of them are oriented towards image building and future sales, and some of them are oriented towards post sales activities. Some studies (for instance Van den Poel and Leunis, 1999 or Boyer and Hult, 2006) show that the longer visitor remains at the web site, the more likely he/her will buy products presented on the site. Therefore, it is necessary to provide contents that improve interactivity of the web site in order to ensure longer and repetitive visits to the web site. For that purpose companies are using different tools and techniques such as: digital gifts (downloadable wallpapers, backgrounds, music and videos, brochures


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etc), online playable games, quizzes, search engines, forums and so on. Figure 6 shows ranked elements used for interactivity improving on SEE confectioners’ web sites. 6. Typology analysis of web sites according to company’s characteristics Company’s characteristics and web implementation At the beginning of the research, on the basis of previously conducted research (for instance Sung-Eon et al., 2003) it is assumed that there is a strong correlation between size and web implementation in a company (H1). Therefore, companies were classified into three categories: (1) small companies with number of employees up to 50; (2) medium companies with number of employees from 51 to 250; and (3) large companies with more than 250 employees. Within each category, companies were classified into those who have web site and those who do not have web site. Then, chi-square test was performed and it proved that there is a correlation at 1 per cent significance level between companies’ size and web site presence (chi-square ¼ 36:193, p-value ¼ 0:000). Table VI shows the distribution of companies within classes. According to the results of test, the first hypothesis is proven to be true. Therefore, we can tell that the implementation of web into communication strategy of the company in confectionery industry in SEE region depends on the company’s size. Namely, the larger company is, the more lightly it will have web site implemented as an additional communication channel.

Figure 6. Interactive elements on confectioners’ webs

Table VI. Size of a company and web site presence

Implemented web site No web site Total

Small (to 50 emp.)

Medium (50-250 emp.)

Large (more than 250 emp.)

Total

77 160 237

37 25 62

27 7 34

141 192 333

Web as a communication channel

EU membership and web implementation The research included five countries within SEE region, those are: (1) Bulgaria; (2) Greece; (3) Croatia; (4) Slovenia; and (5) Serbia.

31

Greece is the old member of EU (since 1 January 1981), Bulgaria and Slovenia are new members (Bulgaria since 1 January 2004 and Slovenia since 1 May 2007), Croatia is an EU candidate (started negotiation on 21 February 2003), while Serbia is a potential EU candidate. Therefore, it was necessary to research whether web presence depends on EU membership of a country. It was assumed that confectioners in EU member countries use web more actively as communication medium of a company (H2). The distribution of companies within EU and outside EU and their web usage is given in Table VII. In order to test connection between EU-membership and web site presence chi-square test was performed and it proved the connection at 1 per cent significance level (chi-square ¼ 11:691, p-value ¼ 0:001). According to the results of test, the hypothesis on web site active use in EU-member countries comparing to non-EU countries is true. Companies in EU-member countries (in SEE) have developed web sites in more cases than those in non-EU countries. So we can tell that confectioners in EU-member countries (in SEE region) use web more actively as communication medium than those in non-EU member countries. EU-membership and contents published on web In H3, on the basis of conducted researches on digital divide (Molla and Licker, 2005; Clarke and Wallsten, 2004; Daly and Miller, 1998) it was presumed that web sites of confectioners located in EU-member countries are richer in contents and more interactive than web sites of confectioners in non-EU countries. Variables of web content analysis were discussed in previous chapter and frequencies were given for total sample, but further analysis was performed and for each content variable chi-square test was done in order to prove the third hypothesis. Out of 50 analysed content variables, for 29 variable statistically significant differences between EU and non-EU countries was discovered. In Table VIII, content variables with statistically significant differences are shown. According to data given in Table VIII, the third hypothesis has to be rejected. Moreover, results shows that companies in non-EU countries publish more contents on their web sites than companies in EU member countries. Moreover, non-EU confectioners more often (than EU-confectioners) publish their basic company’s

Implemented web site No web site

EU

Non-EU

103 105

38 87

Table VII. EU-membership and web site presence

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Table VIII. Statistically significant difference in content variables for EU and non-EU confectioners (SEE region)

Content variable More than two languages Yes No History Yes No Number of employees Yes No Social responsibility Yes No Manager(s) Yes No Financial data Yes No Financial statements Yes No Fax Yes No E-mail Yes No Online contact form Yes No Address Yes No Location on map Yes No Department contact Yes No Product expiration date Yes No Award won Yes No Job offers Yes No

EU (%)

Non-EU (%)

Chi-square

df

p-value

5 95

21 79

8.702

1

0.0030

58 42

82 18

6.6

1

0.0100

8 92

29 71

10.681

1

0.0010

11 89

39 61

15.303

1

0.0000

24 76

58 42

14.122

1

0.0000

9 91

42 58

21.188

1

0.0000

5 95

34 66

21.481

1

0.0000

73 27

89 11

4.391

1

0.0360

75 25

92 8

5.114

1

0.0240

46 54

18 82

8.697

1

0.0030

75 25

92 8

5.114

1

0.0240

16 84

32 68

4.49

1

0.0340

14 86

45 55

15.698

1

0.0000

39 61

66 34

8.117

1

0.0040

16 84

50 50

1

0.0000

7 93

26 74

1

0.0020

17.67

9.975

(continued)

Content variable Distribution network Yes No Products by categories Yes No Products by target groups Yes No Product packages Yes No Information for wholesalers Yes No Digital gifts Yes No Music background Yes No News Yes No Customer awards Yes No Online games Yes No Poll Yes No Quiz Yes No

EU (%)

Non-EU (%)

Chi-square

df

p-value

25 75

45 55

4.977

1

0.0260

50 50

79 21

9.837

1

0.0020

5 95

16 84

4.615

1

0.0320

47 53

66 34

4.093

1

0.0430

9 91

32 68

11.425

1

0.0010

10 90

26 74

6.289

1

0.0120

7 93

26 74

9.975

1

0.0020

39 61

74 26

13.502

1

0.0000

3 97

24 76

15.382

1

0.0000

5 95

18 82

6.562

1

0.0100

1 99

8 92

4.828

1

0.0280

0 100

11 89

11.159

1

0.0010


information in more than two languages and give the number of employees, information on managers, company history and information on products. Namely, non-EU confectioners classify the information on products according to product categories and according to product categories and to target groups. That means that they take into account differences between interest groups of their web users and adjust contents to be more user-friendly and oriented towards recognised consumer groups. Also, web sites of confectioners in non-EU countries are more interactive than web sites of confectioners in EU member countries. For instance, on their web sites polls, quizzes and online games are placed more often. And, finally, non-EU confectioners in more cases have recognised owners, investors and wholesalers as their web audience, so they are publishing financial data and data on distribution network more often than EU confectioners.

Table VIII.

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Conclusions Web is a powerful customer communication channel that can be implemented in various industries. Confectionery industry is an important part of national economies in South Eastern European (SEE) countries. SEE countries are mainly emerging transitional economies. Some of them are already EU members (Bulgaria, Slovenia, Greece, Romania), some are EU candidate countries (Croatia and Turkey), while other are not considered as EU candidates. In this paper the usage of web by confectioners in five selected SEE countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Slovenia and Serbia) is elaborated. The research showed that confectioners usually publish basic company information (that consists of: history and mission of the company) and basic contact information. Regarding information on product, confectioners usually publish description and picture, but not nutrition values as it was expected. Also the price of the product together with packaging information is not commonly given. Therefore, we can conclude that majority of confectioners in the SEE region are using web only for presentation purposes, and not to sell products via web sites. In detailed analysis it is revealed that web implementation depends on company’s size because larger confectioners are implementing web more often than smaller ones. Besides that, web implementation also depends on EU membership of the country because confectioners in EU member countries more lightly have implemented web as a communication channel. This can be connected with economic development of given country, but in order to conclude that web implementation is correlated with the level of economic development, further research should be done. The most interesting finding is that non-EU confectioners have richer web contents than EU confectioners and that web sites of non-EU confectioners are more interactive than web sites of EU confectioners. This can indicate that companies in non-EU countries implement web as an important and vital part of their customer communication strategy, investing more resources and efforts to build and maintain highly quality sites. References Ahlert, D., Becker, J., Kenning, P. and Schu¨ter, R. (Eds) (2000), Internet & Co. im Handel – Strategien, Geschaftsmodelle, Erfahrungen, Springer, Berlin (in German). Bauer, C. and Scharl, A. (2000), “Quantitative evaluation of web site content and structure”, Internet Research, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 31-43. Begalli, D., Codurri, S. and Gaeta, D. (2009), “Wine and web marketing strategies: the case study of Italian specialty wineries”, British Food Journal, Vol. 111 No. 6, pp. 508-619. Bosilj-Vuksic, V. and Pejic-Bach, M. (1998), “Opening up the company on to the world: WWW sites of the ‘400 biggest’ in Croatia”, Proceedings of 9th International Conference on Information and Intelligent Systems, Faculty of Organization and Informatics Varazˇdin, pp. 229-36. Boyer, K.K. and Hult, T.M. (2006), “Customer behavioural intentions for online purchases: an examination of fulfilment method and customer experience level”, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 124-47. Clarke, G.R.G. and Wallsten, S.J. (2004), “Has the internet increased trade? Evidence from industrial and developing countries”, Policy Research Working Paper Series 3215, The World Bank, Washington, DC.

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